Canadian, Quebec governments invest $76.5M in bio-oil facility

The governments of Canada and Quebec announced in July they will provide a combined $76.5 million in funding to AE Côte-Nord Bioenergy Canada Inc. for the production of renewable fuel oil from forest residues at its Port-Cartier facility.

The project will employ Ensyn Corp.’s RTP (rapid thermal processing) fast pyrolysis process technology to convert woody biomass to 10.6 million gallons per year of a bio-oil product that, when upgraded to transportation fuels, will remove up to 70,000 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per year. In March, the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks reserved 170,000 green tons of forest residues from government forests to ensure feedstock supply for the project.

The $76.5 million government funding includes $44.5 million from the federal government ($27 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada and $17.5 million from Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program) and $32 million from the provincial government of Quebec, including $10 million from Investissement Québec.

“We are pleased to initiate construction of the Côte-Nord project,” said Robert Graham, Ensyn chairman. “Our RTP technology was born and developed in Canada, and we are proud to see that this important project, the first commercial facility designed and optimized for fuel production, will be established in Canada with the support of IFIT, SDTC and Investissement Québec.”